Wings of Freedom( Levi x OC)
by FallenAngelShiro
Summary: Everyone on the Survey Corps has had a hard life. What happens when two cold hearted corporals fall in love? Will the two be able to stay together and alive? How would you react if your new wife had been keeping a deadly secret since day one? *Warning: Some scenes may be graphic/mature for some readers. Read at your own will and enjoy.*
1. Humanities Youngest

_Humanities Youngest_

{Erwin's P.O.V}

I was walking around the training area of the Survey Corps., watching the new recruits and older members practicing, getting stronger. Yet, I knew deep in my heart that most of their efforts would be in vain. Most won't live past their first expedition, those that do may leave or lose sanity. I look across from where I was and see Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman, humanities strongest soldier. As per usual, Levi is correcting the young cadets on their stances. I smile to myself and can't help but wonder if he was really the same Levi I found in the Underground. He was different, somewhat more friendly and definitely colder. Then again, who isn't after being in the Survey Corps as long as he has.

From the corner of my right eye, I could see a soldier whose face was covered by the Survey Corps cloak. As mean as this may sound, I recognized who it was by their height. The shortest soldier any one has ever seen. Lance Corporal Kerai Yana, also known as Humanities Youngest soldier. She was more talented than anyone I have ever seen and had more drive than any of us. In ways I pitied her and wanted to help, but she won't let anyone get close enough to help her.

Corporal Kerai finally reached me across the training yard, she removed her hood revealing her long Hazel Nut brown hair pulled back into its normal ponytail, her violet eyes empty of emotion, cherry tinted lips formed into a small frown, her uniform bringing out her curves, overall she was quite a beauty. Of course I don't think of her in any way like that, but every now and then I am reminded that she is adorable. She stopped a few feet away from me and gave me a small warm smile.

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

I walked up to Commander Erwin and gave my best warm smile, though it was just the very corners of my lips that twisted up into the smile. He chuckled at my smile but returned it nonetheless. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a white envelope and handed it to him.

"Here you go Erwin, this is the summary of the information you wanted. The files are in your office if you wish to read more into it." I said.

"Excellent work, Kerai. Welcome back." Erwin smiled.

"Thank you, oh and one more thing." I pulled out a leather bound book and handed it to him. " This is for Hanji, it's some more information that we didn't already know about the titans. I'm sure you both will find the information useful." I explained.

"Well, if it's about the titan's then you know Hanji will have a field day. You always go above and beyond what your needed to do, I thank you for your hard work." Erwin thanked me.

I saluted him and started to walk off towards my room. Before I could even leave the field some new recruit came up to me. The cadet had short raven hair, cold grey-blue eyes, and surprisingly a what appears to be a strong build for someone of his height. He walked up to me and I realized how tall he actually was, the top of my head was at his chin meaning he was short.

"Hey, brat where the hell do you think you're going?" He asked in a pissed of voice.

"I'm going back to my room, now go back to your training cadet before I make you run laps." I snapped back.

"Who the hell are you calling cadet? I am your superior and you are not dismissed back to your room. Now either return to training or I'll have you clean the entire H.Q." He threatened.

"Oi, I'll have you know I am **your** superior. Now, go back to training before I turn you into titan bait, kid." I returned in a hostile tone.

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{Levi's P.O.V}

_This brat has some nerve talking to me like this._

This little brat wasn't going to listen anytime soon, so maybe I just need to be aggressive to get the point across. I picked up the kid by her collar and held her up a few inches off the ground. She grabbed my wrist with her hand and began to try to snap it, and was working. At this rate this kid is going to break it, if she does the I'll have another reason to kick her ass. Just before either of us could could truly get this brawl started, Commander Erwin walked over.

_Ah, great. What the fuck does he want now?_ I sighed mentally to myself.

"Corporal Levi, Corporal Kerai, is there a problem?" He asked.

_Wait a fucking minute..._ "This brat is a corporal? Since when, I haven't seen her before today." I questioned.

"Hn, I've been a corporal way longer than you have. Now unhand me before a kick your short ass." She snapped.

"I'm not the short one here, brat." I growled and sat her back on the ground.

"Well, I know that I'm not that tall and you're only a few inches taller than me. So yeah, **You. Are. Short.**" She emphasized each of her last three words and my left eyebrow twitched.

I brought my right fist and started to swing at her, before I could sock the brat Erwin caught my arm. I shrugged out of his grip and glred at her, she simply stuck out her tongue out at me like a child.

"Now, I understand you two are confused so allow me to clarify." Erwin began. "Kerai, Corporal Levi was recruited while you were away on your mission. Levi, Corporal Kerai has been here longer than you but was not at H.Q. due to the fact we sent her out on an errand. You two are equals and will be co-captains on the same squad." Erwin explained, making my eye twitch.

"I never knew the Survey Corps recruited thugs." The brat growled under her breathe.

"Tch, hey Erwin." I walked over to him.

"Yes, Levi?" He asked, raising one of those huge ass eyebrows of his.

"What the hell is a kid doing in the Survey Corps?" I questioned, no adult could be that short even though I am close to that height.

He looked at me skeptically. "We'll explain that in my office after training." He whispered to me and returned to whatever the hell he was doing before.

The brat looked at me and had that look of knowing what we were talking about. I walked over to her, normally any would have coward away but she stood there as if I wasn't walking to her. I grabbed her collar again and forced her to look me in the eye. those violet eyes of hers held nothing in them. No emotion, no fear, no light, only the faint shimmer of hate but not towards me.

"Watch your back, brat." I warned her.

"Hn." Was that all she was going to say?

I waited a few minutes before releasing her. She never said anything more than _hn_. I walked away form her back to the other brats and corrected them on their stances. Honestly, I don't see why I bother with them. They'll die on their first expedition so why waste the time.

_I wonder if that kids ever been outside the walls, and if so how many times? More importantly why would a kid ever choose to join the Survey Corps? Doesn't that brat understand she'll die, I'm sure her family would miss her. So why pick the most dangerous military option?_

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

_Hn, stupid prick I've meet titans with more brains than that bastard. Erwin needs to have a damn good reason for having a thug from the Underground here in the Survey Corps. Then again, I'm here and have been here for a while even with being underaged. I'm just glad Erwin hasn't told anyone besides Hanji, even then I was still pissed._

I let out an irritated sigh and crossed my arms behind my head. All these new cadets seem to have a strong desire to be here, maybe they don't know what they got into. I walked into H.Q. and went to my office. Everything was still perfectly clean, minus that irritating layer of dust. Nothing I can't deal with, and by that I mean clean it within ten minutes. I slipped off my cloak and jacket and hung them on the coat rack just behind my now closed door. I swiftly went to my little drawer with cleaning supplies in it, took out the duster and began to dust off everything. To my surprise, the dusting only took eight minutes instead of the anticipated ten. I plopped down on my couch and threw my arms over my face, it had been a long day.

I managed to grab a half hour of sleep before someone knocked on my office door. I groaned and sat up right. I then hopped up and walked over to the door. To my surprise, that prick Ackerman was there.

"The hell do you want?" I asked, irritated.

"Tch, Erwin wants to see you in his office." He clicked his tongue.

"For what?" I growled.

"Follow and see, brat." He snapped and headed over to Erwins office.

"Prick" I whispered under my breathe so he wouldn't here and followed him to Erwin's office.

He stopped outside the office and I walked right in, I heard him step back. I looked back at him, he had that look a parent would give their kid once they've done something they shouldn't have. I rolled my eyes at him and walked over to Erwin's desk, there I sat on top of the left corner. Levi gave me that same look as before so I stuck my tongue out at him. Levi entered and closed the door behind him.

"Alright now, explain why the hell a child is in the Survey Corps." Levi snapped.

Erwin looked to me, back at Levi and then to me again. He was questioning on how to explain things.

"Just explain it to him, Erwin. Makes no difference to me, just only tell him what he needs to know." I said looking out the window.

"Well, Kerai has a special reason for being here. As for how she got through the training portion, well how to put this." Erwin began to ponder how to phrase what he wanted to say.

"I lied about my age to get in, no one questioned me mainly because they were too afraid approach me." I said bluntly, smiling at the memories of seeing all the older trainees completely avoiding me.

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{Levi's P.O.V}

_This brat is insane._

"Why would a kid choose the Survey Corps? Surely your parents must want you to do something else." I asked.

As soon as the second sentence left my mouth, her smile vanished. A thin layer of water formed on her violet eyes. I felt a slight chill enter my heart, but I don't understand why. I looked over at Erwin for an answer. His face was slightly twisted in sorrow, but still composed as it normally is.

"Levi, her parents-" Erwin began to explain.

"They died long ago." The brat interrupted in a cold snap.

Her brows furrowed together, as if she was angry that they had died. I wave of pity washed over me, but I didn't let it show. She shifted in her spot so her back was to us, but I could still see her face in the reflection of the window.

"Well, isn't there anyone else that could have taken care of her?" I questioned.

"Not, exactly. Her grandfather can barely watch over himself and her brother is in the Military Police and is rarely there." Erwin explained.

"Hn, I don't need anyone to take care of me." She mumbled.

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. "Tch, with that attitude I doubt anyone would want to care for you." I said bluntly, but as soon as I said it a part of me regretted what I had said.

I looked over at her, her face was empty of any emotion. Except her eyes, there was a whirlwind of emotions in there. Anger, sorrow, fear and most dominate hatred. Just as quickly as the emotions appeared they vanished, and her eyes became blank like before.

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

I got up from the desk, keeping my back to them. I started to walk to the door and stopped within its threshold.

"Thanks for reminding me." I said to Ackerman and walked out.

My fists balled up, trying to keep my emotions in check. I practically ran up the stairs to my room. Once in I slammed the door like a child and locked it. I stood with my back pressed against the door for a few minutes, then walked over to my bed and flopped down on my back.

_He's right, no one could ever want to care about me. The only one who cared was Kana, but now she's...I hate that stupid prick. I hope he gets eaten by a titan._

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{Erwin's P.O.V}

"Levi, that was uncalled for." I said when I heard a door slam shut.

"Tch." He said while looking out the door.

I walked over and closed the door. Levi shifted his weight to his left foot and almost looked like her regretted what he had said, almost. I sat back down at my desk and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Levi, you're going to have to be more careful of what you say. Kerai is on your team and if you two can't get along, your entire team will be put in peril." I said, while regaining my composure.

"Why is she on my squad anyways?" Levi asked.

"Technically you were placed on her squad. You two are Lance Corporals, I figured if you were on the same squad then you would work better together." I explained my train of thought.

"I won't take orders from a kid." Levi snapped.

"She's not that much younger than you now." I said.

"Tch, how old is she anyways?" Levi muttered under his breath.

"She'll be seventeen tomorrow. That's only a seven year gap between the two of you." I answered him.

"She should be in the trainee squads, not here." Levi grumbled and I chuckled.

"That's why she's known as Humanities Youngest soldier."


	2. Enemies or Friends?

_Enemies of Friends?_

{Kerai's P.O.V}

It was the next day, and another night has past leaving me without sleep. I sat up in the middle of my bed cross legged. It was still dark outside, so it couldn't be no later than four in the morning.

Why I even bother with trying to sleep, I'll never know. I haven't slept for six years, I occasionally am able to fall out of consciousness but it's not sleep. If I haven't slept all night there's no point in trying anymore, might as well do something productive.

I slid off my bed and left my room. After a quick quiet walk down the stairs and to my office, I grabbed my 3D maneuver gear and headed over to the training area. Once there I strapped my gear on and began running laps around H.Q. It was quiet and peaceful, I like it. I never was one for being around people or noise, the noise part only because my hearing was slightly more sensitive than a normal person.

The crisp morning air felt like icy prickles against my face and the smell of the morning dew was a nice change from the normal smells within wall Rose. If only things could stay like this, but knowing the Survey Corps. things can't stay this way.

Come to think of it, today seems a bit off. Normally I wouldn't have bothered to get out of bed and I'd hate everything. I have my reasons for hating today, but right now I can't find one of those reasons. How odd...

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{Levi's P.O.V}

It was about six when I finally gave up on sleep. Every night it's the same damn thing. I either get unrestful sleep or I wake up throughout the night. From outside my window I heard some light footsteps.

Who the hell is out there at this damn hour?

I walked over to my window and looked outside to see who it was. It was that brat from yesterday, running around H.Q. I watched her until she was out of my sight before I went over and got ready for the day.

That brat is insane. Is she trying to get sick or something? Tch, Erwin wants me to apologize to that crazy thing, man he's stupid. She looks not bothered by yesterday, so why bring it up again. Plus the brat had it coming, I've never seen anyone with as much disrespect as her.

Once I was dressed, I went down stairs to the cafeteria. I grabbed my black coffee and sat down at the table. Eyebrows, shit-glasses and sniffer were already there. I sat across from eyebrows and sipped my coffee.

"So, you have to apologize to Kerai, Levi. Can I be there so I can smell your pride fading away?" Sniffer asked.

"Tch, who said I'm apologizing to that brat." I scoffed.

"Levi, you have to and will." Eyebrows said from behind his papers.

Shit-glasses and sniffer snickered and I just continued to sip my coffee. As time began to pass, the cadets began filing in and grabbing breakfast. Their chatter filled the once quiet room, they were acting as if they haven't lost anyone or were going to lose anyone. They were close to one another, which will bite them in the ass later on when they lose their 'friends'. Suddenly, their chatter died down and you could hear footsteps walking down the middle aisle. I looked up from my coffee and it was just the brat. She walked over, grabbed a coffee cup and started to brew...tea? Erwin cleared his throat to get my attention, I sighed and went over to the brat.

"Hey brat." I said once I was behind her, she completely ignored me.

I tried poking her arm and nothing happened. She continued brewing her tea, which I am guessing its Jasmine. This time I tried shoving her and again nothing!

"Hey Yana, answer me when I'm talking to you." I snapped in frustration.

"Hn, would a please kill you?" She replied and went over to the table where the other superiors were at.

I swear I felt a vein popping out of my forehead. I followed her to the table and stood in front of her so she couldn't sit down. She tried moving to the left so I took a step right, she tried stepping right and so I stepped left.

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

Damnit Ackerman, let me by!

I tried stepping around him once again and he moved right where I was going to. He's done this now for two minutes and now I was even more mad than before when he was touching me.

"Erwin, hold my tea please." I said as I handed my cup over to Erwin.

"Just don't make a mess, Kerai." He said and took my cup and slid farther away as did the other two.

I turned back to Ackerman and tried to step around him one last time and once again he stepped in my path. I growled and he went to try to shove me again. His right hand touched my left shoulder and I grabbed his wrist. With his wrist in my grasp, I turned around kicked him in his shins and flipped him over my entire body. He landed on his back with a loud thud.

"Prick." I muttered as I sat down and took back my tea from Erwin.

"Brat." I heard him hiss as he got up.

Erwin, Hanji and Mike were silently chuckling, I couldn't help but let out a half-hearted laugh as well. For someone who's supposed to be 'Humanities Strongest' he wasn't that hard to flip over. He got up and sat on the other side of the table as Erwin and I. I sat with my back resting against Erwin's right side, Levi was grumbling something along the lines of ' does this girl even know what respect is?'

"Kerai, you could have just asked him to step aside." Erwin mumbled from behind his papers.

"I guess." I took a sip of my tea. "Sorry about that Ackerman." I said and looked over to him.

"Tch, whatever. It was just a lucky break for you." Levi mumbled and sipped at his coffee. "Sorry about yesterday." He added.

I looked at him carefully and shrugged. "It's okay." I leaned more into Erwin.

"Hey Kerai, how come you're sitting like that?" Hanji asked.

"Why wouldn't I, it's comfortable." I shrugged.

"That may be, but you're leaning on Commander Erwin." Hanji stated, Ms. Captain Obvious.

"Hanji, don't tell me you don't know." Mike commented, sounding slightly dramatical.

"Don't know what?" Hanji asked, filled with sudden curiosity.

"She's Commander's 'little sister'." Mike used air quotes around sister.

Hanji looked at me, then to Erwin, back to me and again to Erwin. From the corner of my eye I could see Levi doing the same thing. Erwin sat down his papers and looked at Mike with that look that says 'Really? You just had to say something about that?' Hanji continued to study the two of us for a few more minutes before slamming her hand down in front of Mike.

"Don't make up lies like that. Those two look nothing alike. Plus if they were siblings don't you think they would have the same last name?" Hanji asked.

"Hey why did you think I used air quotes. She's only his technical little sister." Mike held his hands up in defense.

"Technical? What do you mean technical?" Hanji tried to dig deeper.

No one said anything, and I was staring out the window trying to keep my emotions in check. A noticeable awkwards aura surrounded our table, Hanji gulped.

"Did I ask something I shouldn't have?" She asked innocently.

"Yeah, you did four-eyes." I snapped, slammed down my cup and made my way back to the training grounds.

"W-wait, Kerai hold on." Hanji called and ran after me.

I ran over to where we had the titan props set up for maneuver gear training and took to the tree's. From below the tree's I could still see Hanji trailing after me. A wave of guilt began to wash over me for what I had said, she didn't know so I shouldn't get mad at her. I continued to go from tree to tree for a few more minutes to calm myself then I descended back down to where Hanji was. I rubbed my left upper arm, bit my lower lip and walked over to her. She looked apologetic and I looked guilty.

"Sorry." I said just above a whisper.

"Why are you apologizing, I was the one who brought up something I shouldn't have." Hanji said.

"You didn't know and I shouldn't have snapped or called you four-eyes." I said with a bowed head.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Levi called me that all the time when he's in a good mood so I didn't even notice. Would you mind explaining what about that topic is so sensitive to you?" Hanji asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

I bit my bottom lip again and sighed. "I guess you can know too."

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{Levi's P.O.V}

"Damn that brat is sensitive." I muttered as I took a sip from my coffee.

Mike shook his head and Erwin sighed. I eyed the two of the suspiciously, the two of them act as if they know something I don't. I clicked my tongue in disgust, they of all people should know better than to show emotion like this.

"So what is the brats problem and you need to explain what you meant before, Sniffer." I stated more than asked.

"Uh well, it's not up for me to tell. That's between Corporal Kerai and Commander Erwin. So ask one of them." Mike put his hands up in defense again.

I looked over to Erwin who looked to be composing himself again. No one said anything for a while. Sniffer shifted in his seat and eventually left. By now most of the cadets had gone to train, which meant we would have to start training soon. I looked to Erwin still waiting for an explanation.

"Kerai is my little sister-in-law." Erwin finally spoke up after so odd minutes of silence.

"How?" I asked.

"Her sister was my fiance." Erwin said and walked away.

Was? As in no longer? Did the break up or something? And if that's the case then why is she still your sister-in-law?

These questions and many more went through my head as I walked to the training area. Off towards our makeshift woods, I could see four-eyes and the brat. Four-eyes looked as if she was about to cry and the brat looked like she was in pain. Maybe there was something I was missing. Maybe her sister was dead like her family or they're not talking anymore.

Just like before, a chill entered my heart and this time it felt as if it was twisting. I shook of the feeling and went on with my usual warm up routine. Throughout the few hours we were out there, I found myself looking over towards the brat. For the most part she was sparing against the other squad leaders and members. She left earlier than the rest, most likely because she was out here so damn early. Eyebrows and Sniffer haven't been out here, they must be doing paper work or some shit. An hour or so later, the brat reappeared and walked up to me.

"You're needed in Erwin's office." She said and started to walk back.

I followed her into the office, inside Sniffer and Eyebrows were standing over a strategy table. The brat closed the door and the two looked up from the table at us.

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

"Thank you for joining us, Levi." Erwin greeted.

"Tch." Levi scoffed.

I sat down on the couch behind the strategy table and crossed my legs so my feet weren't on the floor. Mike came over and joined me and Erwin leaned on the table. The three of us had just been going over the strategy for our practice expedition to get the new recruits a taste for a real one in a month. It's a new idea, if it's to work it will detaramaize them so they won't freak and die on the real one.

"As you know it one month we have yet another expedition and we have really new recruits. Seeing as how when we go on these with the new recruits we lose most of them because they freeze up. So, to detaramaize them and increase their rate of survival we are going to put them through a trail expedition just outside of Wall Maria." Erwin explained the plan to Levi, who looked broadly at him.

"When does this trail expedition begin?" He asked after rolling it over in his mind.

"We want to leave tomorrow." Mike said enthusiastically.

"If we do, we will need to have everyone up around five and prepped to leave by six. Otherwise we'll leave all of tomorrow for prep and leave the day after." I said.

The room fell quiet, each of us deep in thought. Probably the biggest question we were sharing was will this work? We were going to risk the recruits in hopes that they'll grow a pair and man up. In all honesty, it's not that much to ask of them plus it's what they signed up for. No one forced any of us to do what we do, well except Ackerman. Erwin kinda completely forced him to join.

"So, who's telling them about the 'expedition'?" Levi asked after a few minutes of silence.

"You." I suggested.

"Tch, why don't you tell them brat." Levi Retorted.

"Because I don't want to, plus I am still your higher up and I say you do it. Erwin, Mike and I were planning this so seeing as you're the only one who wasn't apart of it you will tell them." I barked.

"Easy Kei, save that aggression for the titans." Mike tried keeping the peace.

I growled under my breath and Ackerman 'tched' yet again. I swear that prick only knows that sound. Erwin was pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, how he didn't see having Ackerman and I in the same room leading to a fight I don't know. There was a quick excited knock on the door followed by Hanji entering before anyone could tell her to enter.

"I heard something about titans." Hanji said excitedly.

The four of us looked at each other, then Mike, Erwin and I looked to Levi. He looked at the three of us, back to Hanji and back to us.

"The fuck are you three looking at?" Levi asked.

"I already told you, you are telling everyone about the expedition." I reminded him.

" And I told you no."

"Want to go you Prick?!" I said getting up off the couch.

"Tch, I could kick your ass any day kid." Levi snapped back.

"I. Am. Not. A. Kid. You damn short ass prick!" I yelled and launched myself at him.

He went to attack back but Mike and Erwin grabbed me before I could stretch out his eyes. Hanji rushed over and held Levi back who looked more pissed off than normal. Both of us were trying to get free to kill the other. Mike had to let go to help hold off Levi and Erwin had a firm grip around my arms and upper waist. No matter how strong their grip was, we struggled.

"Let me at him, he deserves to have his ass handed to him." I snapped and thrashed in Erwins grip.

"Tch, like a small brat like you could land a finger on me." Levi retorted.

"Why you!" I managed to get an arm free and reached for Levi's eyes.

He pulled back seeing as how close I came and Erwin back up and the others too.

"Kerai. What would Kanako think of how you're acting." Erwin snapped.

I stopped reaching for Levi's eyes and felt myself become weighted down. I stopped struggling and let my body go limp. A lump formed in my throat and Erwin sat me back down on my feet.

"She wouldn't be happy with me." I said just above a whisper.

"Then don't act that way." Erwin said in a soothing voice.

He let go of me but quickly got a hold of my shoulders before I could hit the floor. I felt limp, my eyes were watery and my heart felt heavy. By now I shouldn't feel like this but I still do. Erwin knew it was a low blow but it was the only way to get me to stop. Apparently Hanji let go of Levi and was now standing next to me looking at me. She had a look of sympathy and it ticked me off. I didn't want people to show me sympathy, I didn't need it nor want it.

"Don't look at me like that, Hanji." I said and walked over to the window.

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{Levi's P.O.V}

Shit-glasses had let go of me and I was able to shrug out of Sniffer's hold. The brat was staring out the window and looked as if she was on the verge of crying. I felt my gaze softening the more I looked at her. Once again that odd feeling came back. Part of me wanted...to comfort her? And the other part of me still wanted to kick her ass. She was complicated, annoying, stubborn, aloof, aggravating yet somehow...cute. The room had grown an awkward silence. Shit-glasses still doesn't know about the expedition and no one is talking.

"Tomorrow we're going to send the new recruits on a trial expedition to get them used to being in the face of a titan and danger." I said, breaking the silence.

"Eh? You mean we get to see titans before the actual expedition?" Shit-glasses suddenly lit up with excitement.

"Yeah." With that she went off on one her her titan rants.

I don't see why she's so fascinated with those filthy creatures. It's almost to the point she worships them as some of the people worship the Walls. Sniffer and Eyebrows went back to the table to review the strategy, Shit-glasses was going off about titans, leaving the brat still staring out the window. Without my consent, my body moved closer to the brat but I stopped just behind her. Her reflection was so clear in the window, I noticed she was holding herself around her waist as if she was about to shatter. Her watery violet eyes meet my grey eyes in the reflection for a minute then she looked away. I leaned close to her ear so only she would hear.

"Sorry." I whispered to her then left to inform the cadets of tomorrows expedition.

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

My eyes were wide with disbelief, Levi Ackerman just said sorry voluntarily. I turned around to look at him but he was already gone. No one else seemed to notice what had happened, that or they pay no attention to it. I left shortly afterwards to go get some tea, in the mess hall were a few cadets scared out of their wits and Levi sitting at the normal table. I poured myself some Earl Grey tea and in a second cup I poured some black coffee. With the glasses in hand I sat down at the normal table and handed him the cup of black coffee. He gave me a questioning look then nodded his head and sipped at the coffee. We sat in silence for a while and strangely enough it was...comforting. It was really weird but I let myself become comfortable.

"How did you know I like black coffee?" Levi asked after some minutes of silence.

"Um, I just guessed. I noticed you drinking it earlier." I said quietly.

"I see, did you do something to it?" He asked, looking at me skeptically.

"No, why?"

He looked at me in slight shock and, I may be mistaken, a light blush formed on his face. Levi glanced at his coffee and back at me. The silence began to come back but was quickly brushed off.

"It's really good. Better than normal." I almost choked on my tea.

Once again, Ackerman was being nice to me. I blinked several times before looking at him. He was looking out the window and that blush was definitely there. I felt my own face heat up and I looked away. I started feeling awkward, this guy who I was ready to kill not half an hour ago was causing me to blush.

"Thanks." I mumbled after some time.

"No problem." He muttered into his cup.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(time~~~~~ღ~~~skip)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was at the stables, preparing for the practice expedition. I had just reached the stall where my horse stays. Her name is Tsubaki, she's a beautiful tan Arabian horse with a black mane. Tsubaki wasn't actually my horse to begin with, she was Kana's. After she left Tsubaki wouldn't cooperate with anyone, but when I finally came to be part of the Survey Corps. she listened to me. She perked up when I opened her stall gate and walked forward. I placed my hand on her neck and lead her out to where the other leaders where. Each of them had their horses ready and equipped. I strapped my gear to Tsubaki and climbed on. Levi gave me a weird look as if to ask aren't you forgetting something?

"What is it Levi?" I asked.

"Aren't you forgetting your saddle?" He asked with that same look.

I blinked a few times before answering. "No, I've never used a saddle. I ride bareback, saddles are annoying and a pain in the ass." I explained.

"Why?" He asked with what looked like honest curiosity.

"It's just the way I learned." I shrugged and clicked for Tsubaki to move forward.

We waited for another ten minutes before we finally made our way to the edge of Wall Rose and eventually Wall Maria. A total journey time of five hours and eighteen minutes. Some cadets had been trying to go back, but the leaders and I kept them here and told them that this was for their own good. We finally left the 'safety' of Wall Maria and were out in the wild.

"Alright. Remember cadets, this is just a trail. You will only engage five titans and each group will have one of us in it so nothing will go wrong." Erwin yelled. "When you spot the titan shoot up the yellow flare, if something is to go wrong use the red flare and once you have defeated your titan use the green flare." Erwin yelled as we broke off into our groups.

"Alright, lets go cadets." I said and started to pull off toward the right.

The cadets followed in suit, Levi's team was also heading left. We rode for a few minutes before the titans were spotted. A ten meter titan and a forteen meter titan were approaching from our left. I looked to Levi who nodded in acknowledgement, I then looked back to my cadet with the flare and signaled for him to shoot the yellow flare. Once he did the others grabbed their blade handles and were waiting for the command to engage. I nodded and jumped off Tsubaki launching my grappling hooks into the arm of the ten meter titan. The cadets took off to disable the titan, I went for the nape of the neck. Once the cadets had successfully disabled the titan I sliced its neck almost too deep. Never the less the titan fell and began to disintegrate. I looked over to Levi's group, they had also gotten their titan down. I whipped off my blades and put them back into their sheath. From the corner of my left eye I could see more titans approaching. I jogged over to the cadet with the flares and shot up the grey one. The cadets looked confused and began asking for an explanation.

"Listen a few abnormals have appeared, you cadets need to head back to the regroup point. Levi and I will deal with these titans, go and don't try to get involved. You've done your part now let us do ours." I explained and commanded.

"Yes Sir." They saluted and rode off on their horses.

"You ready Levi?" I turned to my co-captain.

"Always ready to kill these disgusting shits." Levi unsheathed his blades and took to the air.

I followed his actions and distracted the titan Levi was going for. He easily took the beast down and started after the other. I too began to kill off the abnormals. Together we've probably taken down about five abnormals but there were still two left. All the sudden there was a twist in my stomach as if something wasn't right. I turned to see Levi finishing off one of the abnormals but the other was going to crush him. Time seemed to slow as I ran towards him. I extended my hand out to try to push him away.

"Levi." I screamed as I jumped and pushed him out of the way.

Once he was out of the way time seemed to resume. I quickly drew my blades and sliced off the titans leg and he fell to his right. I used my grappling hooks to get to it's neck fast and sliced the nap of its neck. The abnormal disintegrated and everything seemed to be okay. Levi got up and walked over to me.

"Are you okay, Kerai?" He asked.

I was taken back, this was the first time he used my name. Normally he called me brat or kid but this time he used my name. I blinked a few times and my face began to heat up again.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." I said and sheathed my blades.

In doing so, I felt a sharp sting in my left side. I looked down and saw my white shirt being stained with my blood. I placed my right hand over the source of blood and pulled it back, judging by the amount of blood it's been bleeding this entire time. Levi looked at me, but I tried to play is off. I whistled for Tsubaki to return, while waiting Levi had grabbed my wrist and was forcing me to look him in the eye.

"You need to get that patched up or else it will become infected." He said.

"It can wait until we get back to H.Q." As if to tell me I was wrong another sharp sting was sent up my side.

"I doubt it." He said.

Both our horse came back and Levi grabbed a first aid kit from his. He grabbed my wrist again and dragged me over to a rock. I sat down and that sting was back. He opened the kit and took out some antibiotics and band aids. What he did next was something I was not expecting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Levi's P.O.V}

How did she not notice she was bleeding until now? Even then she acted as if it was nothing. Not only that but Kerai saved me from being squished by that abnormal. I thought she hated me.

I grabbed the cloth and poured some of the antibiotics on it. I reached over to her and undid the first few buttons of her lower shirt. She pulled back and winced from moving too quick.

"The hell are you doing?" She growled.

"What do you think? Moving the clothing to clean the wound. Now stop moving, the more the move the more you bleed." I said and finished undoing the buttons uncovering her waist.

"J-just don't get any ideas, b-baka." She stuttered and looked away.

I looked at her to find her blushing. I let out a quiet chuckle and pressed the cloth to her wound. She winced and bit her lip to keep from screaming. I dabbed the cloth a few times, her pale skin now had a slight red tint to it from where the blood was. I put the antibiotics on the pad and wrapped the bandages around her small waist. Once they were secured, I rebuttoned her top and helped her up. She wobbled slightly and looked light headed, probably from blood loss.

"You alright." I asked.

"Y-yeah, just kinda dizzy." She admitted.

I looked at her, her eyes were slightly closed. Judging how they kept fluttering I assume she would pass out on the journey back and she was riding bareback. I decided it would be safer for her to just ride back with me. Ever so carefully picked her up bridal style and sat her sideways on my horse, then I got on myself. She looked like she wanted to argue but didn't. Instead she leaned her head against my chest and let her eyes flutter shut. I clicked for my horse to move and her's followed in suit. On the ride back I kept looking down at her wondering if she was okay. In all my life I never thought someone so annoying and stubborn could make me want to be near them. When I first saw her I thought of her as my enemy but now I was seeing her as my friend...maybe even more.


	3. Stay

{Kerai's P.O.V}

The sound of hooves clopping on the ground had been replaced with the quieter footsteps of people. A pair of strong arms were under my legs and around my back, basically someone was carrying me. I thought it was Erwin so a lightly gripped his shirt, he chuckled lightly. The pitch was off though, it wasn't Erwin's voice. I forced my eyes to flutter open enough to see who it was. It was dark, but I could tell we were back at H.Q. I squinted in the dark struggling to see who was holding me, it was Levi. He looked down at me and smiled so I forced myself to smile back.

"Glad to see you're awake-ish." He whispered.

"How did the rest of the mission go?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Shh, don't worry yourself with that now. We'll get you up to date in the morning, till then you are to rest." He hushed me and opened the door to my room.

Levi walked over to my bed and gently laid me down on the right side. He grabbed the black fleece blanket from the foot of my bed and tossed it on me. I moved it so that it covered me and smiled again at Levi. He smiled back and his grey eyes looked warm for once. He placed a hand on my head and left the room. I turned myself over onto my right side and curled myself into a ball and fell back to a state of unconsciousness and waited for the morning sun to tell me to get up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Levi's P.O.V}

After yesterday's 'expedition' everyone woke up late. By the time most of the leaders were up it was ten thirty in the morning. We all sat at the normal table and observed the cadets chatting, they seemed pretty excited to have survived their 'first expedition'. There were the few who were with Kerai and I who were still scared shitless. Hm, come to think of it, where is she. Normally she's first out, then again I did tell her to rest. I sipped at my coffee and reviewed the plan for the actual expedition that Erwin gave to me.

"Is Kerai alright?" Hanji asked once she finished her meal.

"Yeah, Levi is she?" Mike asked.

"Tch, how the fuck should I know?" I sipped my coffee.

"We saw you carrying her when we got back. Is she okay or did she just fall asleep on the way back?"

I swallowed hard and felt my face heat up slightly. Her sleeping face from last night filled my mind. Sniffer and Shit-glasses took notice and started to laugh like children. I gave them a death glare and they shut up immediately. Erwin looked up from his papers and looked at us.

"Is she alright?" He asked, raising one of those big ass eyebrows.

"Tch, yeah. She's just asleep." I told him.

Not too long afterwards the sound of light footsteps sounded from down the hall. I looked up to see Kerai walking into the mess hall. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up into a smile seeing that she was at least up to walking already. Of course there was a slight limp in her walk but otherwise looked fine. She walked over to the stove area and began to brew her normal morning tea. Once she got her tea she came over and sat down next to me. She smiled and sipped her tea and I returned the smile.

"Ooh, look at you two getting along. It's so cute, like kids in love." Shit-glasses cooed.

"I'm not a fucking kid and I'm not in love." We snapped at the same time.

"Oh sure you aren't. I can smell it from over here." Sniffer plugged his nose as if he actually smelt something.

"Want me to fix it so you can't smell anything Sniffer?" I seethed.

He went quiet and focused on his drink. I could see Kerai glaring at Shit-glasses and she looked terrified. I chuckled and sipped my coffee. It brought me great joy to see her cowering.

"Well, it's nice to see you two getting along and not trying to kill each other." Erwin said.

"I guess it's nice not trying to kill someone." Kerai said sarcastically.

"Who says we aren't still trying to kill each other?" I asked.

Kerai snickered and Eyebrows sighed in frustration. Honestly I did enjoy not having to be prepared to defend myself from that tiny terror. Some of the cadets were watching us, as if they were waiting for another fight to break out.

"Hey, Brats. If you're done with your meal then get to training." I snapped.

They all got up and left, I smirked at how easy they were to scare. Soon enough Sniffer and Shit-glasses left to train and were followed by Erwin ten minutes afterwards. A few minutes later Kerai got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To train with the others." She replied.

"Wrong. You need to rest and heal, which means no training." I said and rinsed my cup.

"I'll be fine." She tried to play off as if she didn't have that gash in her side.

"Tch. It's an order from Erwin, you are to rest." I enforced.

"Hn, whatever. I'll be in my office then." She turned, waved and went over to her office.

_So stubborn. Somehow she's going to find someway to train. I guess I can check on her later to see how she's doing. Wait, what the hell am I thinking?! The brat knows when to stay put, so why if the hell am I worrying?_

I walked out to the training yard and did my normal rounds of correcting the brats on their shitty techniques. Shit-glasses, Sniffer, Eyebrows and I headed over to the 'titan' area. From there we practiced our formation, execution and our own techniques for taking down those filthy shits. This lasted for an hour or so before we stopped for a break. Honestly, I was sore from yesterdays expedition so I wasn't at my top game. To think we have to do the same thing again in a month. I rolled my eyes at the thought of it and left the training grounds. I made my way back to H.Q. and into Kerai's office. She didn't seem to notice my presence so I just sat down on the couch that was in there. Her violet eyes were scrunched in what looked like frustration. Whatever it was she was reading, she wasn't happy about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Kerai's P.O.V}

I must have read this damned letter about ten times now and each time I found myself somehow angry with it. The letter was a reminder that the Yana family ball was in a month and a half. A useless party with what little family I have left and family friends that I don't even remember. Though I couldn't truly complain, I haven't gone the past six years. Kohaku and grandfather must be worried about me, but I do write to them frequently. I finally got irritated enough to shove the letter back into its envelope and off my desk. I looked around my room and found a certain raven haired man sitting on my couch.

"Oi, Levi. Where the hell did you come from?" I asked.

"The training grounds." He replied.

I got up from my desk and sat next to him on the couch. There was a cushion space between us. I felt awkward around him after last night, just thinking about it made my face heat up. I turned my head away till the heat went away.

"Did you need something?" I asked, still not looking at him.

"Not really, just making sure you aren't pushing yourself." He shrugged.

"Is Erwin making you?" I turned to look at him.

"Yeah." He shrugged.

Somehow his answer was a little of a let down. Then again what more could I expect from him? I let out a sigh and went back over to my desk to reorganize the small mess I had created going through my mail and papers. I found myself glancing at Levi and occasionally seeing him taking a glance at me. I came across the letter again and shoved it in a drawer, I'll come back to it after the expedition and let Erwin know. After a half hour of some chit-chatting Levi left and went to do who knows what.

Eventually the sun began to set and I left my office for dinner. At the table everyone was laughing, smiling, joking as if we were one family. I realized that until I had joined the Survey Corps, I never really had that feeling of being with a family. When they were alive mom and dad were always away because of work and grandfather was simply too old to keep up with a child. Kanako was a mother figure to me in some ways and a best friend in another. Kohaku well, he was himself, he was mature somewhat distant, but there when you needed him. After Kana passed, he began to lean on me more, and I allowed him to. I didn't want him to worry about me so I became his rock even though I was slowly eroding away. Not even Erwin knew that I would eventually crack, just in the time I've known Levi though, it's become more apparent. I don't know how and I don't know why but I feel safe around him, I feel as if I could tell him everything though I wont. He's confusing, annoying, a little narcissistic, a pain in the ass, cold, distant yet...it draws me near.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~( TimeღSkip)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The expedition went extremely well, only ten soldiers died this time. That was about maybe a fourth of our normal casualties. This meant that the trial was a good thing to put them through or this group was just really lucky. Either way, it was enough cause for most to celebrate. Of course while the cadets were celebrating us squad captain, corporals and our commander were stuck in our offices filling out our reports. Honestly though, I'd rather do paperwork than celebrate anything. I had just finished refining my report when there was a light knock on my door. I opened it to find Mike standing there smiling.

"Hey Mike, what's up?" I asked leaning on the door.

"Nothing much, just came to tell you lunch is ready." He smiled and grabbed my arm to drag me to the table.

I allowed him to lead me to the table but from there I went and got myself a salad from the kitchen. When I returned I was greeted by Hanji and Erwin, Levi was just sipping his coffee completely oblivious to the world around him. I rolled my eyes and sat down next to him and Mike. After a few minutes of nothing from Levi, I decided to break his trance.

"Yo, earth to Levi." I said and waved my right hand in front of his face.

"What do you want brat?"Levi chuckled playfully.

In the past month or so, we have become practically best friends. We'd laugh, chat, do paperwork and train together. It was as if we've known each other since we were kids or something. Brat no longer was an insult when he used it against me, and neither was prick when I used it on him. Those nicknames were just our way of being playful.

"Nothing, prick. Just bringing you back to reality." I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"Who says I ever left reality?" He countered.

"You were staring off into nowhere and you didn't notice when I got here." I said.

"When did you get here?" He asked sarcastically.

"Very funny, Levi." I pushed his arm and went back to eating.

"Since when did you two become friends?" Mike asked.

We looked to each other, shrugged and went back to eating. Between the two of us, we couldn't really tell when we became friends. It seems like one day I wanted him dead and the next he was my long lost best friend or something. He didn't seem as bad now and maybe I wasn't so much of a kid now. Come to think of it, ever since we became friends I've been smiling a lot more often and laughing wholeheartedly. Erwin's taken notice but has said anything about it. Which reminds me, the letter. I pulled the letter out of my inside jacket pocket and read it over again, the same frustration filling me as before.

"Hey earth to Kerai." Levi waved his hand in my face mocking my tone from before.

"Hm?" I looked up from the letter.

"What's in that letter that gets you so mad?" He asked.

"Oh, it just a stupid party I have to attend." I grumbled. "You have to go this time too, Erwin."

"Of course, when is it?" He asked from behind his papers.

"Two days from today, at eight sharp." I said and tossed the letter to him to read.

"Why are you so against this party?" Levi asked, trying to see from my angle.

"I've never been one for parties. Plus, I never fit in there, they always talk politics or some other thing I don't care or know about. It's a waste of my time." I explained and blew my bangs back into place.

"In other words you're a stick in the mud." Mike teased.

"Shut it, Mike. I just don't like parties, doesn't mean I'm a stick in the mud." I said and sipped my tea.

They started to laugh and I rolled my eyes. _And they say I'm a child._ I thought and sighed. I was going to lose a week of training and paperwork for what? An hour or two of music and dancing, which I can't even do. Well, I can't ballroom dance but other dancing was fine. I could bring someone with me, but no one here could really be trusted to not draw a crowd within Mitras.

"So where does the famous Yana ball take place?" Hanji asked.

"My home in Mitras." I said with a bored tone.

"Wait, you live within Wall Sina and the innermost city?" Mike asked and I nodded yes. "Then how come you left there for Trost in wall Rose?" He sounded intrigued.

"Because this is where the Survey Corps. is located." I answered on the verge of snapping.

The other three laughed and I let out a light giggle. Honestly Mike could be quite the moron when he puts his mind to it. I looked over to Levi, who looked disgusted by the mention of wall Sina much less Mitras the inner city. Suddenly I got a devilish idea in my mind, why not bring Levi with me. He was my best friend and plus I don't need the people at that ball freaked out by Hanji's affection for titans or Mike sniffing them. Erwin looked at me and let me know he knew what I was thinking of.

"Hey Levi you want to go with us?" I asked giving him my pouty, please- say- yes face.

He looked like he was about to say no, so I moved closer and he gave a sigh of defeat. "I guess." He muttered.

I cheered in my mind and hugged him. His face became bright red at my sudden embrace and admitablly so was mine. This was one of the few times we hugged and normally when we did no one else was around. I gave a victorious smile and skipped off to my office, leaving a stunned, well, everyone behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Levi's P.O.V}

_I can't believe she used that look on me and I let it work. She knows my distaste for the walls, especially wall Sina yet she still asked and got me to agree._

I mentally face palmed at myself and watched a happy Kerai skip away like a child. Come to think of it, when she was happy she acted like a kid yet, she gets mad when you call her one. I wonder what that could be about. I sipped at my coffee letting my thoughts wonder.

"She's such a kid." I mumbled.

"Give her a break Levi. She didn't have much of a childhood so she acts somewhat childish now." Eyebrows said looking up from his papers.

"Why?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Her family raised her to be mature from a young age. They had her learn all sorts of proper edicate and stuff so she never was allowed to be a kid." He explained. "Her sister was the same way and so is her brother."

"If she knows proper edicate how come she just walks into your office whenever she wants too?" Sniffer asked.

"It doesn't bother me, so I allow her." Eyebrows shrugged and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~( TimeღSkip)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two days passed by in what felt like two hours. It was now about seven fifty eight Eyebrows and I were standing outside waiting for Kerai to get out here. She was the one who reminded us last night to be up and ready by eight. Again the most frustrating girl ever. Just as the carriage arrived, Kerai finally joined us. We put our bags on the back and hopped into the carriage for the hour or so long drive. Eyebrows pulled out a book and started reading, Kerai looked out the window with a bored expression and I just leaned back and took a nap.

Someone moved my shoulder and I nudged them away. They nudged me again so I grabbed their arm and opened my eyes. It was just Kerai, she was surprisingly close. Close enough that our noses were touching. I pulled back and she pulled away, her pale face now had a cherry tint to it.

"W-we're here." She said and got out of the carriage.

I got out and stretched my arms and legs. We grabbed our stuff and walked up a cobble path for a few minutes. From behind a large fern a huge white building appeared. It was a practical rich person mansion. It had a red tile roof and a fountain before you reached the walk way to the door and a lush green yard. It looked as if it was able to hold an entire city within it. A waste of space for a family of four, even eight was still too little. Everything looked plush and breakable, no wonder the kids were taught proper edicate instead of being let run wild around this place.

Once we finally reached the front door we were greated by a young male. He looked to be about 178 cm( 5'8''), shaggy brown hair that faded white at the tips, about the same skin tone as Kerai maybe a shade or two darker, turquoise eyes and a muscular build. He smiled at Eyebrows and Kerai jumped and hugged him in a bear hug. My eye twitched a little when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Ohayo, Kohaku." She smiled.

"Ohayo Rai-san, Genki desu ka?" I assumed he asked her something.

"Kanari yoi, to anata wa?"

"Yoi,node, anata no yūjin wa dare desu ka?" He pointed over at me and I glared at him.

"Ā, soreha Levi. Kare wa watashi no chīmu to watashi no shin'yū no ichibu desu."

I looked to Eyebrows in hopes he had some damn idea of what the hell they are saying but he looked just as lost as I was. The guy talking gibberish to Kerai looked at me and I glared, then he looked back to Kerai.

"Kare wa nihongo o hanashite imasu ka?" He jabbered.

"No, he speaks English." She finally said something I could understand.

"Ah, well then it wouldn't be polite to continue talking like that then. I apologize for that. My name is Kohaku, it's a pleasure to meet you Corporal Levi." Kohaku placed his hand out for me to shake it.

"Nice to meet you too." I tried to be polite and shook his hand.

"Welcome back Erwin, how are you?" He went over to Eyebrows and did some weird handshake.

"Very well, you?"

"Same as always." Kohaku turned around and motioned for us to follow him. "Welcome to the Yana family estate, please make yourselves at home. Kerai could you show them to their rooms."

"Hai, by the way. Where's grandfather?" Kerai asked tilting her head slightly to the left.

"In his study. I'll see you later." And with that the gibberish speaking guy left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Kerai's P.O.V}

Kohaku walked off towards the library, leaving the three of us in the living room area. It was nice to see him again, he was still the same as when we last saw each other. The house was just as it was since I was a child. I turned around to Erwin and Levi still smiling.

"Come on, I'll show your room Levi. Erwin, you remember where your room is right?"

"Of course, you two have fun exploring." Erwin left, though his comment made it sound like we were children.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed Levi's wrist. "Come one Levi." I began to walk up the stairs with Levi being dragged behind me.

After we reached the top of the stairs I headed off to the left and down the hall. Each side had ten doors, twenty in total. Half were guest rooms, some were entertainment and the one at the end on the right was mine. The one across from mine was going to be Levi's, at least he shouldn't get lost. I opened the door to his room and walked in. The room was a pale grey with light furnishings. There was a king sized bed pressed in the center against the back east wall of the room and on either side was a small night stand. Across from the bed was a wardrobe, in the back right corner was a small reading area with two bookcases. To the left of the bed was a door that lead into the bathroom. The floor was a beautiful red rosewood and carpeting around the bed area. Old paintings were neatly dispersed along the wall to give the room a complete feeling. I looked to Levi who was in his own state of shock. I walked inside and pulled him with me, I noticed that my grip had fallen from his wrist to his hand though he hasn't noticed yet. I waved my free hand in front of his eyes.

"Earth to Levi, you there?" I asked.

"Who said I left this time?" He said after blinking a few times.

"So, what do you think about the room?" I smiled.

"It's...nice. Really big." He looked around the room again.

"I'll let you get settled. If you need me I'm in the room across from this one." I dropped his hand and walked over to my room.

My room was about the same size as Levi's, a simple twenty by twenty. The walls are a pale violet with a black trim on the base, windows and doorways. The floors were the same red rosewood though there wasn't carpet around the bed. The bed was placed up against the east wall in the center. It was a queen sized bed with victorian era lilac bedsheets. In the back left corner was my grand piano and on the wall closest to the door on the west wall was my reading area. The wardrobe was facing the bed and to the right of the bed was a door that led to my bathroom. I kept my walls plain for the most part, there were a few pictures of my family and the few friends I've made.

I walked over to my bed and flopped down on it. It was plush, like how some clouds look. I looked at my hand that had been holding Levi's felt cold, my heart felt as if it was twisting. I was getting attached to him, which was only going to end up hurting me. I groaned and threw my arms over my face in frustration. I knew I had fallen for the Underground thug, my co-captain, my best friend. In the Survey Corps. though, there is no time, no point into falling in love. Each day you risk losing that person and in the end you do. God, he is so damn confusing.

I laid there for an hour or so before I got up and went down to grandfather's study. He was sitting in his chair with the back of it facing the doorway where I now was standing. After a few minutes he turned the chair around and smiled at me. When he smiled, he made it looked as if he had more wrinkles than he truly did. His blue-green eyes squinted and were brought out by his now snow white hair. For a man of seventy nine, he appeared much older.

"Yūkoku, Kerai." He greeted.

"Guddo no yūkoku, Ojīsan." I smiled at him.

"Dono yō ni anata no ryokō wa koko ni ita?"

"Sore wa chōdo, nagai, daijōbudatta." I left out the fact that the trip was boring.

"Sore wa kiite yoi kotoda." He got up placed his book back in it's place.

It was the first time in years that I've truly conversed with grandfather, and yet I had no idea how to talk with him. He was so different from mother and father, he was more liberal, more open. It kind of scared me. I looked over to the hundreds of book he has collected over the years and started to think of something to talk about.

"Nani ka mondai wa arimasu ka, Kerai?" His voice caught me off guard.

"Y-yeah. Watashi wa imi hai." I corrected myself and lower my gaze.

"If you're more comfortable speaking English, then just say so." He chuckled.

I looked up back to him, _when was the last time he spoke English?_ I was shocked to hear him speak English, though he speaks it fluently. Father had always forced me to speak Japanese to him, so I guess I've assumed he didn't find it respectful to talk to him like that.

"I-I thought I was only allowed to talk to you if I spoke Japanese." I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

"No, no dear. You can speak to me in which ever one you feel most comfortable with. Why would you think such a ridiculous idea?" He asked and walked over to me.

"Well, father told me that-" I started to explain and he let out a chuckle.

"I think I know why your father would tell you that. His grandfather forced him to speak Japanese to him, and so did my grandfather. It's a family trait I suppose." He chuckled again, and I slightly smiled. "Now, why don't you tell me what's on your mind."

I sat down on the open chair and he took the one next to me. I had no idea how to say what was on mind. Normally I say the first thing that pops up but with this, I have no idea how to talk about it. I bit my inner lower lip and pondered over how to say what I wanted to. The more I thought about it, the more that weird feeling spread.

"Well, it's hard to explain." I admitted.

"Hm, try your best and I'll see if I can advise you." He gave an encouraging smile.

"For a couple of months now I keep getting this weird feeling. It's like...it's like..." I held my sides trying to find the words. "A cold chill enters my heart and twists around. My stomach twists up into knots, almost makes me feel sick."

"Haha, before I jump to a conclusion tell me. Does this feeling happen around anyone person?" He asked.

"Y-yeah...C-corporal...L-levi." I stuttered and my face was bright red.

"Ah, as I thought. You my darling little Rai, are feeling what it feels like to be in love." He smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I can't be. I can't be in love, I'm in the Survey Corps. We can't be in love nor do we have the time to be in love."

"Did that stop your sister? Love is up to the person no matter what the situation, no matter what they do." Grandfather smiled and moved closer to me.

"She was different." I pouted.

"And so are you. Kerai, I bet you'll be able to make this love work." He wrapped his arm around me in a hug.

"It doesn't matter how hard I try." I whispered.

"Oh, and how's that?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Levi's P.O.V}

"Because, Levi would never love me back." Kerai said.

I had been walking by when I overheard her grandfather and her talking. I swallowed hard, a sudden twist entered my heart. I stayed in place for a few more minutes and then walked away. I couldn't help but think back to what I heard Kerai say, it somehow bothered me. I continued to explore the maze of a house, trying to find Eyebrows. After about ten minutes of exploring I finally came across him.

"Are you lost, Levi?" He asked.

"Tch, just exploring." I pushed it off.

"Exploring in the back end of the house, just admit you're lost." Eyebrows jared.

"Then what the hell are you doing back here?" I questioned.

"I was grabbing this box for Kohaku." He held up a small velvet like box. "Come on, I think supper is ready." He started walking away and I followed a few feet behind.

He lead us to a dining area where Kohaku, his grandfather and a young female. I looked around the room for Kerai and found her standing in the doorway from the living room. She had a somewhat sad and confused look on her face. I looked at her till her eyes meet mine, but when they did it only lasted for a few seconds. The girl from before walked over to her and dragged her over to the table. Once we were all seated, we began to eat. I got lost in a conversation with her grandfather, Eyebrows and Kohaku. Every now and then I'd steal a glance at Kerai, but she was never looking towards me.

"So Erwin, I heard you recently became a commander. How's that going for you?" The girl asked.

"Pretty well, I heard you also got a promotion Milaya. How's that for you?" So the girls name was Milaya.

"Boring, but it's something to do." Milaya shrugged and turned to Kerai. "But what isn't boring is what you do Kerai. How was your last expedition?"

"It was okay, less casualties than normal." Kerai said in a voice just above a whisper.

"Really? How?" Milaya leaned closer to her with interest.

"I don't know, we had a trial run for the new recruits so that could have helped or maybe they just got lucky this time." Kerai shrugged and placed her chin in her hand.

"Kei, act as if you have manners at the table." Kohaku said from across the table.

"Hn." She didn't seem to notice or care.

"Oi, Kei-san."

"Leave her be Kohaku, she's a little distracted right now." Her grandfather said and finished his meal. "How about we get your mind off of that Kerai."

"How so?" She asked monotonous.

"Why don't you play for us." He suggested.

A slight sparkle came to her eyes and a smile played at the edge of her lips. Everyone else also seemed to perk up at that suggestion, yet I have no idea what he means. An instrument perhaps?

"Alright." She shrugged.

"Awesome, I haven't heard you play in ages Kei." Milaya encouraged.

"You mean since the last time we saw each other." Kerai rolled her eyes.

The rest of the meal was filled with conversation about what she would play. From the names suggested it was definitely an instrument or singing, but Kerai doesn't look like the singing type. Kerai and her brother finished a few minutes before the rest of us and disappeared. Once we were all done, her grandfather filed us into the ballroom. In there a grand piano was set up and Kohaku was standing there while Kerai sat on the bench. We took a seat on the chairs set up. When we were settled, Kohaku joined us leaving Kerai at the piano. It was quiet for a few minutes before the sound of the piano began to fill the room. I sat in awe at the melody, it was unlike anything else I have heard. (Song Kerai Play's 'Kiss the Rain') I closed my eyes and listened closely to the rhythm, I felt myself relaxing and slightly moving with the song. When the song ended, everyone said goodnight and headed for bed. I waited for Kerai to put away the piano and followed her till I got to my room.

"Kerai." I started once we reached our rooms.

"Yeah?"

"I, um.." I tried to find a way to say what I wanted to.

"What is it Levi." A small sparkle entered her eyes.

"I, um...goodnight." I said and looked away from her.

"Oh, goodnight Levi." I could hear the sadness in her tone and it made me feel bad, still I went in my room and got ready for bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Kerai's P.O.V}

Sleep evaded me, yet again. When I 'woke up' I put on(outfit ),headed down to the ballroom and started to finish the decorations for the ball. As time passed, the others came and helped. Kohaku and his friends finished moving in the tables and chairs. Milaya and I worked on recipes for the food. Erwin and Levi were doing...well they were helping out when asked. We worked from dawn till four in the evening, and everything was ready. Throughout the day, I found myself thinking back to what grandfather told me. I decided to that I needed to clear my head, so what better thing to do than take a walk.

"Where are you off too, Kerai?" Grandfather asked as I reached the door.

"Just for a walk, I need to clear my mind."

"Alright, just be back before dark. Even within wall Sina, it's dangerous to be out at night." He cautioned and I went out.

From my vague memory, I walked the same path I had when I was a child. The streets of Mitras were filled with chatter of the noblemen and women. These people acted as if there never were any titans to begin with, I bet half of them haven't even heard about them. I rolled my eyes at their ignorance and continued on my merry way. After two hours of walking around I began to make my way back home. I was maybe five streets away from home, when two men started to follow me. Something about the two gave me a bad feeling, so I took a detour to try and lose them. They didn't get lost, instead they got closer. A few minutes later they were only ten feet behind me, so I took off running. Granted I could easily beat the shit out of them, it was just instinct to run. The lack of sleep from last night was starting to get to me. After a few minutes of being chased by them, I turned a sharp left corner to try and catch my breath. I carefully took a glance from around the corner and the men weren't their. My muscles relaxed and my breathing returned to normal for a few minutes.

Out of nowhere there was a man in front of me and the two men from earlier were on either side of me. I realized I was cornered, but I was still thinking of a plan to slip by and escape.

"Well, well. You two did very well, this lil' lady may be perfect." The man in front of me said in a husky rough voice.

"Thanks boss." The one to my left said with a sniveling voice.

"Are we going to test her out before we bring her to the market?" The one to my right had a deep brisk voice and was drooling.

"But of course, what would be the point in selling faulty merchandise." Their boss said and leaned in close to me.

"Hn, who the hell are you calling merchandise?" I snapped and pushed him away.

"Aye, this one's feisty." He grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind my back.

I winced at the pressure and went to knee him in the dick, he stopped me before I could by grabbing my leg. He gave a perverted smile and slid his hand up my leg towards my waist. With my free hand, I socked him in the jaw. He released my leg and punched me in the mouth. Just a few seconds later, he crushed his coarse lips to my soft ones. I began to panic and struggle harder. The other two guys helped him pin me to the wall and made sure I wouldn't be able to move. Their boss never removed his lips from mine, and they began to touch me. Once my lips were finally free I decided to call for help.

"Help, someone please!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Shut up bitch, you'll enjoy this."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Levi's P.O.V}

Something wasn't right, it was dark and had been for a good forty five minutes now. Kerai wasn't back yet, and there was a twisting feeling in my stomach as if to tell me something was wrong. I looked over at Eyebrows and he seemed to have noticed too. I got up and grabbed my gear and cloak.

"You going somewhere, Levi?" Kohaku asked.

"Yeah, to look for Kerai." I said and left.

As soon as I was outside I launched my grappling hooks into a nearby roof and took to the skies. It wasn't too dark so I should be able to see her. Ten minutes went by and I hadn't found her yet, the feeling in my stomach was getting worse and worse. I landed on a roof to try and get my thoughts to make sense. From below right I could hear what sounded like a muffled scream of a girl. I looked over to see Kerai being attacked by three men. A rush of anger rushed over me and I took action. I jumped down, pulled the pistol I kept in my boot out and fired off three shots. Two of the shots hit the men holding her right in their necks while the third man was only brazed by the bullet but had released Kerai. Just before she hit the ground I caught her, what I saw was terrifying. Her shirt had been ripped open, her right leg shot, left upper arm brazed and bleeding, and she was bruised everywhere I was able to see. I slipped off my cloak and placed it over her and turned to the last man.

"W-where the hell did you come from, rat?" The man asked.

"Tch, from the rooftop moron. What the hell do you think you were doing to the Lance Corporal?" I growled.

"Lance Corporal? W-wait you mean to tell me that that girl is a Lance Corporal?"

"No shit. Now how to deal with trash like you." I shot him in the leg which caused him to scream and fall to the ground.

"P-please, l-let me go." He begged.

"No, I won't allow you to get away with your life you shit." With that I sent a bullet through his skull.

My anger faded and was replaced with worry, I walked back over to Kerai and picked her up in my arms. She winced at the slightest contact I made with her. It pained me to see her so scared, broken and beaten. I fully picked her up and her eyes shot open, I think she expected it to be one of the men. But when her violet eyes meet my grey eyes the softened and gave a look of relief.

"L-Levi?" She whispered.

"Shh, everything will be alright now Kerai. They can't hurt you any more."

I shot my grappling hooks into the roof and went off into the sky with Kerai in my arms. She was stiff for a few minutes then buried her head into my chest and her left hand clutched my shirt. On the way back I wasn't in as much of a hurry since I had her and she was safe. Kerai's breath was ragged but smoothing out slowly, without really thinking I lowered my head and pressed my lips to the top of her head. A few minutes later we reached the house, I brought us through the back entry and up the stairs to her room. I carefully laid her down and quickly retrieved some bandages and antibiotics from the bathroom. Bandaging her took a half hour because I was afraid to hurt her even more than she already was. But once she was cleaned and patched up I started to head out.

"W-wait Levi."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Kerai's P.O.V}

Levi stopped walking and turned around. "Yes, Kerai?"

I bit my inner lip, I guess there was no not saying anything. "Don't go." I whispered. "Please, I don't want to be alone tonight."

His eyes seemed to light up and a smiled played at the edges of his lips. I slid over to the left and patted the now open spot next to me for him to come and lay with me. Once he was next to me he wrapped his arm under my neck and I pulled myself close to him. I turned onto my right side, ignoring the throbbing in my leg, so that there was little to no space between us. He draped his other arm around my waist and closed the space between us. I felt safe in his arms, like nothing bad ever happened.

"Is there anywhere that's still in pain?" He asked.

Honestly, everywhere hurt. Up until then I hadn't noticed that my jaw area was throbbing from when that dickhead punched me and assaulted my lips. _Maybe, just maybe..._

"Y-yeah."

"Where?" He asked softly. "I may be able to make it hurt less."

"M-my lips hurt a lot and I still feel his lips on mine." I admitted.

"I could help you forget about that feeling, if you will allow me to."

I looked into his grey eyes, they were soft, kind, warm. "P-please. Help me forget." I looked my my left trying to hold back he blush from spreading.

The hand he had on my waist moved up and cupped my left cheek. I placed my hand over his and held it there. I watched his movements carefully, he moved slowly as if he was afraid to break me. There was once a two inch gap between our faces, and now his soft warm lips were on mine. He kissed me slowly and softly yet there was a ton of passion behind it. When his lips started to move, I moved mine in sync. I felt something warm, wet and slippery run across my lower lip, Levi was asking for entrance. I hesitantly let him in, when he was in his tongue carefully explored my mouth. After a few minutes we broke away for air. When we pulled away, there was a thin silvery strand of saliva connecting our mouths.

"I won't let anyone do that to you ever again. No one else can touch you. You are mine, got it?" Levi whispered in my ear.

_I am his..._ "And you are mine." I placed my lips to his again and then buried my face in his chest.


	4. My Heart

{Kerai's P.O.V}

The colors of my dream began to form into one bright light. My eyes fluttered open and I squeezed them shut to protect them from the blinding morning sun. Something gave me a squeeze around my waist and I panicked, forgetting I was home. I opened my eyes and found Levi's sleeping face, the panic left and I relaxed. I'd never seen him so relaxed before, he looked so happy and peaceful. Not wanting to wake him, I tried to carefully undo his hold on me. When I had almost gotten free, his arm pulled me back and he buried his head into my neck.

"Where do you think you're going?" He muttered into my neck.

"To get changed and off of my right side." I said.

He chuckled and placed a soft kiss on my neck. Levi looked at me with his warm grey eyes and gently placed a tender kiss to my lips which I gladly returned. With one swift movement he had both of us on our feet. A thought crossed my mind, tonight was the party. I let out an annoyed groan.

"Something wrong, Kei?" Levi asked.

"Since when did you start calling me Kei? And everythings fine, I'm just really not looking forward to tonight." I explained.

"That's understandable and since now." He placed a quick kiss on my nose and left to let me get dressed.

I walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of black shorts and a lilac long sleeved top. Once dressed, I re-did my hair so I looked presentable. _When it gets closer, I'll have Laya help me with my hair and dress_. I thought as I walked to the door. Out in the hall, a maid was cleaning and dusting. Levi came out of his room wearing a fresh uniform. He smiled, walked over and took my right hand in his left and lead me through the hall. We walked for a few minutes before reaching the end where there was the option of the dining room, living room, and library.

"You hungry?" I asked.

"No, are you?"

"No. Would you mind if we go in the library?" I didn't want to be around people right now.

"Sure." He opened the door and pulled me in.

I closed the door behind me and went over to one of the many shelves of books. Levi pulled out a random book and sat on the short couch with his right foot on the cushion closests to the armrest. I pulled out my old book of fairy tales, went over to where Levi was sitting and sat in between his legs. He wrapped his left around around my waist and I leaned against his chest reading the stories. Time passed by quicker the more I got emerged in the stories. I weight formed on my shoulder, I looked away from the page to find Levi resting his head on my shoulder.

"I had no idea you were such a child." He teased, reading what the page I was on.

"Am not, I just like these stories because of the imagination behind them." I stuck out my tongue and smirked.

He rolled his eyes and kissed my cheek. "Explain to me how these stories aren't childish then."

"Well, for one these are the true version instead of the ones made for children. Imagine a child's reaction knowing that Alice in wonderland was just imagining things because of brain disease. Or that the little mermaid died from being on shore too long." I said turning the page.

"That would be more realistic than filling their minds with shit about fairies and mermaids and talking rabbits." He chuckled.

I finished reading about Cinderella when there was a knock on the door. I closed the book and looked to the door and in came Laya, looking relieved about something.

"Rai, what how come you didn't come home last night?" She asked standing a few feet away from Levi and I.

"I...did...I just went in through the back..." I bit my inner lip hoping she would buy my lie.

"You should have said something, Levi went looking for you."

"I know, I ran into him before I went to bed." I shrugged.

"In any case, it's time time to get ready for the ball." Laya chirped.

"Speaking of which would you mind helping me get ready?" I asked.

"Of course, let's go then." She started off towards the hall.

I kissed Levi on his lips once she wasn't looking, placed my book back in its spot and followed her to my room. In my room, Laya ravaged my wardrobe trying to find a dress that was something we'd both agree on. Finally she pulled out a black corset dress that wasn't poofy like the others she pulled out. (Dress for Ball) She pulled my over the the vanity and sat me down.

"Now, what are we going to do about your hair? It's so long, we have endless possibilities." She said and took my hair out of the pony tail.

"Actually, I have an idea for my hair." I smiled and she gave a me a funny look.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ღ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Levi's P.O.V}

Shortly after Kerai Left, I decided to leave and get ready. When I passed by Kerai's room I thought I heard a snipping sound, but I shrugged it off. In the room I had been staying in, there on the bed laid a formal tuxedo( tux). Honestly the thing looked like a monkey suit, there was no way in hell I would go out wearing that. Keeping in mind this a was a formal affair I pulled out a tie and ditched the overcoat.( how shirt looks now) At least now it wouldn't look completely stupid. My thoughts wandered over to what Kerai would look like. I put on the improved the monkey suit and headed downstairs, that was already being filled with more people in monkeysuits and poof. After a few minutes the musicians began playing. Soon people started dancing which was my cue to move to the wall. I spotted Eyebrows talking with some people, Kohaku dancing with Milaya and Kerai's grandfather talking with other businessmen and women. Though there still no sign of Kerai, it shouldn't be hard to find a short beautiful girl with long brunette hair and gorgeous violet eyes.

From the corner of my left eye, I saw something move from the top of the stairs. I looked to where I saw the movement and a small smile spread across my face. Kerai was standing behind the wall, peeking around the corner. Her violet eyes lit up when she spotted me and started to move from her hiding place. I felt my eyes widen and my heart stop for a moment. She was wearing a black corset victorian era dress slightly puffy at the bottom.( Her Dress) But what really got me was her hair. It was shorter, shoulder blade length and down instead of her normal updo that ended at her lower back. She walked quickly over to me and stopped a foot from me.

"Wow." I breathed.

"You like this?" She asked innocently.

"Yeah, you look beautiful. Then again, you always do." I smiled and pulled her towards me.

"You look quite dashing tonight as well." She wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head against my chest.

I pressed my lips to the top of her head and rested my chin on her head. We stood like this for a few minutes, slowly I began swaying to the music. Some people started to look at us and I gave them the 'mind your own fucking business' look. Most looked away but I'm guessing the ones who knew Kerai were still watching. I pulled her closer and continued to glare at people.

"What exactly are you glaring at Levi?" Kerai asked.

"Tch, don't these people have anything better to look at." I growled and she giggled, it was so cute.

"Don't take it personal Levi. They just are weary of people they haven't seen before." She pulled back and smiled at me. "Plus I guess we look out of place." She giggled again.

"If that's the case." I pulled us to where everyone else was dancing and continued swaying to the music.

Kerai rested her head against my chest again and smiled down at her. I started to relax and my arms slipped to her lower waist. I was going to move them back up but she didn't seem to mind. This was as close to dancing as I was going to get and it seemed kind of obvious. The time ticked by slowly, and with each slow song timed seemed to get slower. Eventually these old geezers started to leave which was our signal to finally go to bed. I stopped swaying and was going to start walking when I noticed that Kerai had fallen asleep already. I chuckled quietly, picked her up and headed to bed.


	5. New Recruits

{Kerai's P.O.V}

Six years have gone by since then, and they were probably the best years ever. Levi was everything I could ever want in a guy; strong, fierce, kind, passionate, blunt, caring, cold when needed and most importantly he is always there when I need him. Five years ago we got married, though only Erwin, Mike, Hanji and a few cadets knew about it. Neither of us saw a need or reason to announce it so we kept it to ourselves. Granted there are times when we need to make it known that the other is taken, it's not often.

It was about six in the morning and the sun was peeking through the window. I only noticed because my once cold back was now heated up. I opened my eyes and saw Levi's sleeping face, I also noticed I was still laying on top of him from last night. I couldn't help but laugh quietly at last nights memories. I sat up on his stomach and as soon as I had he pulled me back down to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He chuckled.

"To get dressed, silly." I giggled.

"But if you get up then I lose my blanket." He complained.

I rolled my eyes. "True, but you're blanket needs to bathe and get dressed. And so do you." I poked his nose gently.

"Can't that wait till later?" He asked.

"Not today. You have to go and choose the new recruits for our squad." I sat back up and placed my hands on his chest.

"Ugh, do we even need recruits getting in our way?" He propped himself up on his elbows.

"No, that's why we have to train them as well. So I'm trusting you'll pick trainee's that won't need a whole lot of training so you and I can focus on more pressing matters." I smiled.

"Has my judgement ever been wrong?" He questioned and sat upright nearly knocking me down.

"Hm, let me think about that." I teased. "Not that I can recall."

"Then don't worry about it." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his lips to mine for a few minutes.

As much as I loved his lips against mine, we still had things that needed to be done. So I broke the kiss, needing air anyways, and got up to go shower. I stopped at the doorway and looked back at Levi watching me.

"Wanna join me? I could use some help washing my back." I offered receiving a smile from my pervert of a husband.

"I'll be there in a sec." He chuckled and I went into the bathroom.

After our 'shower' we got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. He grabbed his normal black coffee and I grabbed my Earl Grey tea. With our drinks and hands in hand we walked over to our table with Erwin, Hanji and Mike. The three smiled at us when we sat down and continued their conversations. Erwin was looking of the lists of graduates that we would be choosing from to create our squads or fill in missing members.

"So how many members are you two going to choose?" Hanji asked.

"Four should be more than enough with two corporals." I answered and more or less told Levi to only pick four.

He nodded and Mike laughed. "Don't you have a say in the choice at all Levi? Or does your wife make all the choices for you?"

"I make my own choices, we compromised at four. I wanted none she wanted some." He replied.

"That's not all she wanted." Mike chuckled and I turned slightly red.

Erwin reached over and slapped Mike upside the head. "Don't say things like that about my sister, Mike."

"Hey, not my fault they always come out of their room smelling like each other." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"No one said you had to go around sniffing us." I retorted.

"When have you been sniffing my wife, Sniffer?" Levi asked, seeming slightly angered.

"N-never." Mike inched away nervously and I let out a laugh as did everyone else.

After a few more minutes of conversation we got up to leave. All captains, minus me, were going to head over to the trainee area to select the new recruits. Before Levi left he gave me a quick peck on my cheek and smiled. Once everyone was gone I headed to my office and worked on some paper work due at the end of the week. An hour or so later, I cleaned up my office and laid down on my couch. According to the clock, everyone should be back in a hour which meant I had an hour to rest. So, I closed my eyes and let my mind wander freely.

What seemed like a few minutes later was actually an hour later someone shook my arm. On instinct, I grabbed the person and pinned them to the wall. Of course it turned out to be Levi so I let him go.

"Hey, why the hell would you attack Corporal Levi?" A female voice from behind shouted.

I turned around and was faced with three guys and a girl, the new recruits and cadets. I narrowed my gaze at the girl and she backed up. A smirk made its way to my lips at the sight of her fear. I turned my gaze back to Levi and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Levi. But you should have known better than to wake me."

"Tch, you didn't wake up when I called your name so how else was I supposed to wake you?" He smirked and stepped closer to me.

"You could have not waken me." I joked.

"Then you wouldn't have met the new brats." I pouted and tilted my head slightly when he said new brats.

"You're replacing me?" I pretended to act hurt about that and he got concerned.

"No, I could never." He leaned down almost to the point that I could touch his lips with mine.

"Good, just making sure." I chirped and earned a chuckle from him.

I looked over the cadets again, the girl was making a semi-disgusted face at our little display. All of them seemed to have felt uncomfortable, but I didn't care and neither did Levi. I looked to Levi with the face saying 'are you going to introduce me to the cadets or not?' and he simply smiled.

"Alright cadets, line up." They moved slightly to form a line where they stood side by side. "Now in order introduce yourselves." I told them.

The guy on the left had short dirty-blonde hair that was styled almost like Levi's, small hazel eyes, and the uniform on. He appeared a lot older than he probably was and had one the same type of cravat as Levi. I eyed him questioningly but waited for him to speak. He finally noticed I was waiting and saluted before talking.

"My name is Olou Bozado. A pleasure to meet you." He tried to kiss the top of my hand but I growled and he backed off.

"Next." I said and moved on to the one next to him.

"My name is Gunther Schultz" The man was average height, cropped brown hair that came to a point at the top, brown eyes and the full uniform on as if he had just returned from an expedition.

I nodded and moved onto the girl from before and motioned for her to speak. "Petra Ral." She saluted.

She was short, but not as short as Levi and I, short light orange hair, amber eyes and the standard uniform. She made sure to hold eye contact with me until I moved past her. Once I stood in front of the last man I heard her breath a sigh of relief.

"Eld Jinn, a pleasure to meet you Corporal Yana." Eld had brown eyes and blond hair which had a middle parting and a pony tail folded at the back. He also had a small beard.

"Nice to meet you too I expect great things from this squad since you were handpicked by Levi." I smiled, glaring slightly at Petra who was gawking at Levi. "Head out to the training area. I want to personally see your skills." I ordered.

"Yes ma'am." The four of them saluted and headed off to the field.

I watched carefully as the left, I had known them for about ten minutes and already I had strong opinions of them. Olou seemed a bit too full of himself, Gunther was okay, Eld seem to have a sense of respect and then there was Petra. She seemed like a nice enough girl but something about her was rubbing me the wrong way. For now all I can really do is observe them to settle on how I would see them. Before Levi and I left my office I pushed him against the wall gently and place a rough passionate kiss to his lips. He turned his head to deepen the kiss and wrapped his arms around my waist.

After a few minutes we broke for air. "What's brought this on?" Levi asked.

"Nothing, can't I kiss you without a reason?" I asked and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"I guess not." He took my hand in his and we walked out to the training grounds.

Before we reached the cadets we released the others hand and put a half foot of space between us. The four of them were waiting patiently for orders though Olou seemed slightly distracted as did Ral. I kicked a rock towards the two of them and they snapped back into attention.

"Alright, I want to see your skills with the maneuver gear and teamwork. You are to take down four 'titans' in the forest area." I pointed to our little simulator for titan training.

"Yes, ma'am." They saluted and headed off except for cadet Ral.

"Is there a problem cadet?" I asked.

"No, just waiting for captain Levi to give us the formation to use." She smiled towards Levi.

"You don't have a formation. You are to act as if the formation has broken and you are being attacked by abnormals." I narrowed my eyes.

"But there are formations for if the formation breaks right?" She asked.

"No, just go." I barked.

She looked like she wanted to argue but didn't. Levi and I took to a branch to watch their movements. The four 'titans' were positioned in the northeast, southwest and northwest. For the most part, it seemed as if Jinn and Schultz were taking true charge of their makeshift formation. Bozado tried to be in command but he kept biting his tongue while giving orders. Last of all was cadet Ral, after every movement she made she looked to Levi for some form of approval yet he didn't seem to notice. Ten minutes, it took the cadets ten minutes to take down four 'titans'. The cadets spotted us and landed on the branch Levi and I were waiting on.

"How did we do captain Levi?" Cadet Ral asked as soon as her feet touched the bark.

"Tch, you'd all be dead." Levi scoffed.

"H-how? We took down the 'titans' and none of us got hurt." She asked.

"That doesn't matter when it takes ten minutes to take down four titans. In that time more titans would have appeared and you would have been eaten. As far as team work goes, you are fine. Time wise there is room for major improvement before the first expedition." I jumped down and walked over to our sparring area.

The cadets followed close, well almost all the cadets. Once again Ral was waiting for Levi. I growled in frustration and waited where I was for her to get her ass over here. The two of them were in my sight, Ral seemed to be asking questions and Levi looked annoyed with her. After a few minutes Levi and Ral joined us, Levi stopped by my side and Ral finally joined her teammates.

"Now that we know about your titan killing skills, we are going to see how you are at hand to hand combat."

"Bozado and Schultz, you two will spare. Jinn and Ral you two will spare." Levi said.

"Yes sir." The cadets went to their partners and waited for the command to start.

I looked at the partners and started taking mental notes. "Begin." I walked a few feet back and leaned against a crate filled with supplies for the expeditions.

Levi was paying no attention to the sparring, instead he was secretly playing with a strand of my hair. I was half paying attention, taking notes mostly on their stances. Keeping in mind that every person adds their own style to suit how they fight, I still couldn't help but find things about their stances that bothered me. The stance that bothered me the most was cadet Ral's. Her punching arm was supposed to keep at a 90° angle yet she was holding it at a 76° angle. Her footing was also too close together, if Jinn was to leg sweep her she'd go down and have a harder time getting up. I watched her fight for a few more minutes before it had bothered me enough to correct it. I walked up to the cadets and face Ral.

"Your stance is off." I said.

Jinn moved into a more relaxed stance and Ral still stood ready to attack/counter. "No it's not." She said.

"Yes it is." I went to adjust her arm and she pulled away from me.

"I thank you for your concern Vice Captain but if there was truly a problem with my stance Captain Levi would correct it." She turned away from me.

"Excuse me but I am your Captain and I am correcting you on your stance." I said, venom began to coat my words towards the end.

"Ha, no offence but a kid like you could only dream about being a Captain." She laughed again.

"What did you say?" I growled and balled my hands into fists.

"I said there is no way a kid like you could be a Captain." She repeated with that same cocked attitude.

"Listen here you little prick. You will not talk to your Captain like that, now take back your words and correct your stance or run laps around H.Q. for five hours on end with no breaks." I growled at her.

"I'm not talking to my Captain like this. I'm talking to you like this." The prick just dug her own grave.

I grabbed her by her collar and brought her down to my height. "Alright cadet, it appears as though I am going to have to make it clear to you who your captains are. I am this squads first Captain, Levi is this squads second Captain. There is no vice, just co-captains. So when I give you an order or tell you to correct something you do it with no back talk got it?" She nodded and I released her.

"Hmp, you're all bark and no bite. I doubt a kid like you even knows the first thing about fighting." She muttered and unfortunately for her I heard it.

"You think I can't fight eh? Well, I guess I'll have to show you then. Jinn you take a break, I'll spare with her." I smirked knowing how easy it would be to take her down.

"Yes, ma'am." Jinn walked over to where I had been standing as did the other two.

I took a few steps away from Ral and watched her sink into her fighting stance. I stood with my arms crossed over my chest and waited for her to make a move. She didn't even move an inch, she was waiting for me to get in my stance though I never really had one. I had always just stood like normal and waited for the other to attack.

"You going to take this seriously or what Kerai?" She asked.

"I am, just waiting for you to attack." I shrugged.

"Then get into your stance. I won't attack until you are ready."

"You see cadet Ral, I am ready. Just grow a pair and attack me." With that she ran at me.

"Uh, should we stop them?" Schultz asked.

"What if poor little Petra is to get hurt." Boazdo said and bit his tongue.

"Tch, have you tried stopping Kerai from fighting? The brat is getting what was coming to her, now shut up and learn how to spare." Levi said.

She was pretty fast, but was still faster. Once she was a foot away from me she trusted her left arm towards my face. With my right arm I was able to easily block her attack and grab hold of her. She noticed this and tried to land a blow to my stomach which I caught in my other hand. I moved my right foot slightly behind her and threw her backwards. She tripped over my foot and stumbled. I took the chance to attack her. I made it seem as if I was going to attack her torso and she went to block. While she was distracted by that I moved upwards and landed a blow to her lower jaw and sent her a good five feet backwards. Before she could hit the ground I ran up and grabbed her throat. With her in my grasp I slammed her body down onto the ground and pinned her there. Ral struggled to get free, but the more she struggled the tighter grip got on her. After a few minutes of struggling she gave up.

I released her throat, got up and dusted off my pants. Moron made me get my uniform stained with dirt, luckily I have an extra in my wardrobe. Schultz went over and Ral up, she didn't look to happy. I could faintly see a red mark on her neck from where I had been holding her. I smirked at the mark and chuckled. _For someone with a big bark you don't have much bite do you Ral?_

"The three of you are dismissed. Ral you have laps to run and the stables to tend to afterwards."

"But you-"

"Want me to extend your punishment?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Punishment for what?" She asked rubbing her back.

"For your arrogance, back talk and utter disrespect for your Captain." I said and walked away.

Ral didn't dare argue though I heard her grumble to herself. I headed back to my office and to my surprise I found Levi waiting for me. He was reading some random book from my shelves and hadn't noticed I walked in. I walked over to him and sat on his lap, he moved the book slightly and wrapped an arm around my waist. I leaned against him and closed my eyes to try to get rid of this headache that started about fifteen minutes or so ago.

"Feel better after beating the shit out of the cadet?" Levi asked.

"Always feel better after beating respect into a bitch who doesn't know better." I muttered into his chest.

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. I kept thinking back to what I thought initially about the cadets. That Gunther seems alright, not annoying not particularly someone I would become close with. Olou seems to have a thing for that Ral girl and she seems to have a thing for Levi. Eld seems to be alright all around, he could be a good second in command when one of us can't go on an expedition. Soldier wise, the four of them are well off. Person wise, Levi seemed to only pick one and a half with a functioning brain. If Ral keeps up her actions, I may just have to make things known to her. _You shouldn't worry, Levi didn't seem to notice. Levi only loves you not some random cadet, don't worry._ I kept repeating this thought, though something about her wasn't sitting right in my stomach.


	6. Shattered

{Levi's P.O.V}

Three years ago those brats joined and now...they were still brats. Although the four of them have gotten most of their shit together, two of them seem to have left some behind. Bozado still copies the way I act, speak, dress, attack and most recently walk. Ral gets too close for comfort and it pissed Kerai off even though she won't say anything. In a way I was kind of glad she didn't whine about it though there are times where I wish she would open up to me. You'd think after nine years of knowing each other and eight of being married she's tell me when something was bothering her. I've talked to Eyebrows about it, he thinks it's just the way she was raised.

I turned my head to my right and came face to sleeping face with her. Kerai was deep in sleep even though it's now seven thirty in the morning. I wasn't going to wake her, I learned that the hard way several years ago. She nearly broke my neck, that's when I learned to never wake her up or to at least send the brats in to wake her. My left arm was numb but there wasn't anything that I could do, it was being used as her pillow. About forty minutes she finally stirred awake.

"Morning sleeping beauty."

"Ugh, it's too early. Five more minutes." She rolled over to her left side, curled into a ball and my arm was free.

"If you sleep any later, you'll be a pain in the ass later." I chuckled and placed a kiss to her forehead.

She groaned but eventually sat up. I went over and slipped on my clean uniform and went over to the mirror to finish up my cravat. Once that was in place I left to let Kerai get dressed and what not. Down stairs the brats were already done eating and ready to for training. I grabbed my coffee and started to brew Kerai's tea, though I honestly have no idea how she wants it. I finished brewing her tea and brought it to the table where she had appeared. She corcked an eyebrow but took the cup with a smile.

"You brewed Earl Grey Tea?" She asked and sipped her cup.

"More or less tried." I drank my coffee.

"Well for more or less trying, it's perfect. Thank you." She kissed my cheek and continued her drink.

"Yuck, can you two be anymore lovey dovey?" Sniffer asked sarcastically.

"Of course." I grabbed Kerai and crushed my lips to hers.

She was stunned at first but kissed back. Sniffer and Eyebrows groaned with disgust Shit-glasses was squealing as if it was the cutest thing ever. I pulled away after I felt Sniffer was fully disgusted and chuckled. Kerai was blushing like mad and playfully smacked my arm.

"B-baka. Min'na no mae de sore o shinaide kudasai." She sounded like she was embarrassed.

"Still have no damn idea what you say when you talk like that." Granted I was learning some Japanese for her, but I was still far behind her.

She glared at me and I rolled my eyes. She was easy to embarrass and her reactions where the best. Probably the most emotion you get out of her is embarrassment if you only kind of know her. Kerai finished her drink and went to the kitchen to put away the glass. I followed a few minutes behind her. Once everything was spotless she went off to her office to finish up some paper work before she was to leave for wall Sina. Her grandfather had recently fallen ill and needed her for a few days. Eyebrows and I were going to stay behind this time to give her some time alone with him. She was going to be up there for five days, which meant I had five days of worrying if she was going to be safe or not. Even when I went to Sina with her I still worried. Eyebrows doesn't seem to be worried, then again half the time you can't even tell he has emotions.

As much as I would love to stay by her side till she left, I still had to train the brats. Over these past three years they've gotten better, Olou still bites his tongue every time he speaks, Gunther was more outspoken, Eld was a perfect fit for second in command. Then there was Ral, she was still as clingy and annoying as day one. She seems to be less annoying when Kerai was around, which was another downside to having her gone. _It's just five days, everything will be fine._

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

The remaining paperwork I had took an hour and forty minutes to complete, honestly that was too short. Secretly I was dreading going back to Sina for many reasons. One grandfather may die while I'm there, two Levi won't be with me and the reason that gnawed at me the most was three. Petra would still be here with Levi. Of course I know Levi is mine and I his, but ever since I found out she liked him I couldn't rest easy leaving the two of them alone. It wasn't that I didn't trust Levi, it was her I didn't trust. I bit my inner lip and tried to think of something I could do to take longer to leave. But then I was faced with the problem that grandfather and Kohaku said it was urgent that I get to Matris as soon as possible. I took one last quick look around my office and decided that I should go.

I went back upstairs to mine and Levi's room, grabbed my bag and headed back downstairs. Once outside I headed to the stables and got Tsubaki ready for the trip. She seemed to be excited to head back to Sina, then again she was always excited to travel. I made sure my bags were secured to her before I went to find Levi. He was in the forested area practicing his titan killing. I waited patiently for him to finish up then flagged him down.

"You sure you want to go alone?" He asked.

"Yeah, it'll be quicker that way. It won't be a long trip, the days will go by quick." I smiled and he took my hands in his.

"Just be safe." He pressed his warm lips to mine and smiled.

"Promise, keep the cadets in line while I'm gone. Kay?"

"Alright." He walked me over to Tsubaki and I rode off to Sina.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TineღSkip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On horseback, the trip lasted about five hours and as per usual it was long and boring. I slid off of Tsubaki and walked up to the familiar pathway to the old house. In the lawn i could see Kohaku and Milaya standing behind grandfather in his wheelchair looking into the sky mindlessly. The three of them didn't seem to notice my presence but from behind Laya's legs came a little running and stumbling menace. My little nephew, Nikku, had spotted me and got giggly. His wavy light brown hair bounced and his bright blue eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Auntie, Auntie." He said when he was a few feet from me.

"Hey there trouble." I scooped him up in my arms and rested him on my right hip.

Not knowing how to fully talk he just giggled and somewhat gurgled. Laya and Kohaku noticed I was here and walked over. The two of them seemed to be happier each time I see them. Before I thought they were just crazy, but now I understood why. Nikku started to reach out for Laya when she got closer.

"I think this menace is your's." I smiled and handed him over to Laya.

"Maybe. How are you Kerai?" She smiled.

"Eh, same as always you?"

"Horrible." She said sarcastically, I swear she only knows how to be happy.

"Hey Kei-san." Kohaku pulled me into a hug.

"Hey stranger." I returned the hug. "So, how's grandfather doing?"

"Physically, okay. Mentally, he's starting to lose it." He looked over at him with a sad expression. "They say he'll go at the end of the week."

"I see."

"Why don't you go talk with him, I'll put Tsubaki away." Kohaku took her reins and started to walk her to the stables.

Grandfather was looking to the clouds, probably finding different shapes with in them. I walked up next to him but stayed quiet. I followed his gaze and tried to find some shapes within the clouds. I couldn't find any though, my eyes seemed to focus on the darker clouds rolling in. It gave me an odd feeling, as if something wasn't right.

"A storm is coming." He said after a few minutes.

"I see. How are you doing?" I looked down at him and placed my left hand on his right shoulder.

"I'm fine, sweet." He placed his hand on mine and continued to look at the sky. "Have you gotten things settled with that cadet?"

"Eh, for the most part. She still tries to be close to him when I'm not around."

"Are you worried?"

"In a way." I admitted.

He squeezed my hand. "Don't be. If he was smart enough to get you, I doubt he would be dumb enough to let you go."

I let out a nervous laugh and looked back at the sky. "It's going to rain soon, let's get you inside."

"Alright." With his approval I wheeled him back inside.

The evening passed by slowly, for the most part I just listened to grandfather tell stories from years before. They were the same stories he told me as a child, but I still loved hearing them. Most were from his time in the Scouting Legion, the same stories that inspired Kanako to join. At some point, he dozed off midstory and Jun came and took him to his room. I stayed in the study and read a random book till dawn. Admittedly I wanted to sleep and probably should have, but my insomnia kept me up. When the first morning rays came pouring into the study, a knot feeling formed in my core. It was similar to the feeling I got eight years ago when Levi was nearly crushed by that abnormal. Something bad was going to happen, or something bad was happening back at H.Q. I put the book down and pulled my legs to my chest, _Maybe it's just my imagination from lack of sleep. That has to be it._

Throughout the day I kept an eye out for anything that seemed wrong, but nothing stood out. The rain clouds from last night were still hanging around and every now and then a light mist would start. Almost every other two hours a small tremor went off, the first thought that came to mind every time was 'titan'. But that thought was quickly followed by _Titan's couldn't get in wall Sina, let alone Mitras._ A little later into the evening I got bored and decided to practice my calligraphy. The old grandfather clock struck seven and as if that was some cue and huge earthquake hit. It lurched me into the desk and from off towards the old building I heard the sound of something crashing to the floor and a loud female scream, Laya. Even with the trembling still going on, I rushed out into the hallway and down towards the old building. About half way there the shaking stopped, which meant I could run normally. It took me a few more seconds to reach the old building and when I did, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

There before me was a giant hole in the wall and the section that created that hole had landed on Kohaku. Laya, Nikku and grandfather were all staring in horror. I rushed over to Kohaku and kneeled down to pry off the section of wall. It was times like this I was glad that I had titan strength. Once the wall was off of him, he let out a moan of pain and I could see why. A rib had poked through his chest and most likely every bone in his body was crushed, he was bleeding and bleeding fast. Fear had now sunken in, I feel to my knees and visibly shook. I carefully moved his head so that it was in my lap, he winced but seemed happy how he was now.

"Ko-kohaku." My voice trembled even with it just being above a whisper.

"K-Kerai, don't l-look like t-that." He wheezed and weakly placed his right hand on my cheek, I held with there gently.

"J-just stay still, we'll get the nur-"

"Don't."

"What do you mean don't?" My voice raised to a higher pitch in concern.

"I mean, just let it be." He smiled. "H-hey Kei, can you do me a favor?"

I couldn't trust my voice anymore so I just nodded my head.

"Do you remember that lullaby mother used to sing to us when you were little?" He asked.

"Y-yeah."

"C-can you sing it?" I was confused by his request. "I want to listen to it one more time."

"O-of course." I forced a smile onto my face.

I closed my eyes to think about it, slowly the words came back to me. I started humming the melody before actually singing it. (Safe and Sound) As I sung, it began to rain the thunder didn't help things. The closer to the end of the song I got the thicker my throat became. I was watching his breathing carefully and it was becoming slower by the second. His hand began to slip away, he was slipping away.

"Just close your eyes, you'll be alright...Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound~" His eyes closed and his hand fell down.

My vision began to blur as I fought back the tears, I tried to focus on something anything to get the tears to not come. _He died smiling, he's at peace. Kohaku is safe now._ I looked over to Laya and grandfather, she was crying her eyes out and it looked like he wanted to too. I pressed my head to Kohaku's as if to say a final goodbye, I began to hiccup as if I was crying a lot but not a tear has escaped. He wouldn't want me to cry, not even at his death.

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{Grandfather( Nikolite)'s P.O.V}

I wish I was able to cry, but I haven't since I was a child. Poor Milaya and Kerai, neither of them could have expected this. After a few minutes Jun returned with some of the other helpers and began cleaning up. Milaya left to her room and Kerai went and locked herself in her study. Once again, the clouds were right. Death came and took my grandson with him.

During his funeral the next day it continued to lightly rain. Milaya cried, Nikku had no idea what was going on and Kerai watched but never let a tear escape her now cold violet eyes. The day after the funeral I wasn't able to get out of bed, my time was drawing near. If I was to delay to tomorrow then it will be painful for everyone, but if I can leave today then it would be easier on everyone.

I had Jun tell Kerai to come to my room an hour before my inevitable death. Thinking about it, most men in my position would be freaking out. I on the other hand had been preparing for my death day since I was able to comprehend the concept of death and life. A soft knock on my door let me know Kerai had arrived.

"Enter." She walked in quietly and sat down by my bed.

I placed my hand closest to her on her leg and she held it with both her hands. Never once have I seen her so devastated by death. She trained in the Survey Corps. and dealt with death on a daily basis. But now it would appear to be the first time she's ever saw someone die.

"Kerai, why didn't you cry?" I asked.

"Kohaku told me not to cry when he died and father said-"

"I understand your brothers wishes but you're still listening to your fool of a father?" I spoke in a now raspy voice.

"Y-yeah."

"Kei, do you see that journal on my dresser next to you?" She grabbed the journal. "I want to give you that journal. It has everything I've been meaning to tell you but have run out of time." Her grip on my hand tightened.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure." I gave her the closed eyed smile she loved so dearly. "One more thing before I pass. It's alright to cry, your father thought it was a sign of weakness. In reality it lets people know you've been strong for too long."

"I understand, but I'm afraid if I cry now I won't be able to stop." She said and her voice broke.

"I'm sorry to leave you in such a state, but know this. No matter what happens, no matter where you are or what you do I will always love you."

"And I love you."

I felt at peace knowing she knew that she would always be loved. I felt my body resting and my pulse slow. I closed my eyes and smiled thinking back on my life. If I had a chance to redo anything, I wouldn't changed a thing I did.

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{Kerai's P.O.V}

I watched his chest stop moving and his hand relaxed. Nikolite, my grandfather was gone. In a way I was happy he wouldn't have to deal with the pain of this world anymore. But I also wished that he hadn't left so soon after Kohaku. For the first time in my entire life I felt as if the hard exterior I had built up over the years was shattering, I was shattering. I squeezed his hand one last time and left his room, there was no reason for me to stay in Mitras any longer. If I was going to break, I was going to break with Levi near by so I'd have someone there. I ran up to my room, snatched my bag, ran back down to the stables, mounted Tsubaki and rode back to Trost.

I didn't waste any time on the way back, each galope got blurrier. I took two hours to return to base, once there I swung off of Tsubaki with my bag and sent her to the stables. A cadet walked up to me and saluted.

"Welcome back, Corporal."

"Thank you cadet. Please put this bag in my room." I handed him my bag.

"Yes ma'am." He saluted and walked off towards the main building.

I walked into the mess hall and started looking for Levi. My hands and arms started to shake so I held my sides to contain it. My eyes landed on Olou so I decided it would be a wise idea to ask him about Levi's whereabouts.

"Olou, do you know where Levi is?" I asked.

"Who the-Oh, captain, you're back. Welcome, Levi is in his office but I wouldn't bother him if I were you." He greeted, answered and cautioned.

"Thank you, but this wouldn't be the first time I've interrupted him." I walked over to his office.

"Ma'am with all do respect, I really wouldn't disturb him at this time." He stepped in front of me just as we reached his door.

"Bozado, this is something I have to discuss with Levi right now. Please move out of my way." My voice softened towards the end.

He made no move to get out of my way, so I stepped around him and turned the knob to open his door. I opened the door just enough to put my foot through.

"Levi, I-" I stopped mid sentence.

There, standing in the middle of Levi's office was Levi and Petra...full fledged making out. My heart sank, the shaking got worse and I lost my voice. I looked away and quietly closed the door. I stood in front of his door for a minute before turning around, avoiding eye contact with Olou and headed towards my office. Once in there, I locked the door and sat down on the couch. I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. My breathing became ragged and cold beads of water began to cascade down my cheeks from my eyes. I let out a quiet wail and buried my face into my knees and cried as if I was a five year old. This week was the worst thing ever, first I loose my family and now my husband. I had nothing left, and the more I thought about it the harder I cried.

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{Erwin's P.O.V}

It had been quiet for a while, when all the sudden I began to hear what sounded like someone crying. I left my office and just a few doors down the origin of the sound became louder, it was coming from Kerai's office. I knocked on the door, no response only the sound of crying.

"Kerai?" I asked and knocked again.

"G-go...a-away." She muttered in between sobs.

With that I pulled out my keys and unlocked her door. Inside was a sight I never thought I'd live to see, Kerai was balling her eyes out. I closed the door and walked over to her. She had balled herself up on the couch and was hiccuping from crying so hard. I kneeled down in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders. She shot straight up and looked terrified.

"E-erwin?" She asked in a broken quiet voice.

"Kerai, what in the hell happened to you?" My voice flooded with concern.

Her eyes watered up again and she started to cry again. In between sobs she told me what had happened in Mitras and what had happened in Levi's office. Anger rose up inside me, not at what happened in Mitras but how Levi had hurt my little sister, blood or not. I called for cadet Jinn to stay with her while I went to have a talk with Corporal Levi. I found him walking around the mess hall with a bored expression on his face. I marched up to him, picked him up by his collar and slammed him into the wall.

"The fuck do you think you're doing Eyebrows?" He growled.

"Shut it Ackerman. How in the hell do you go and stab Kerai in the back like that you little bastard?" I seethed, pure rage filling my eyes.

"What the fuck are you talking about? I haven't stabbed Kerai in the back." He tried to get out of my grasp which tightened.

I slammed him into the wall again. "Don't play dumb you moron. She saw you kissing cadet Ral." I barked.

By now everyone had gathered in the hall, including the cadet which I would have to punish later as well. A light went off in Levi's head and it was obvious. I dropped him on the ground and took a step back.

"That wasn't what it looked like." He defended.

"Try telling that to Kerai. Because of you she's balling her eyes out." I snapped and walked over cadet Ral. "As for you, you are on restrictions and you'll be moved to a temporary squad until further notice." I went back to my office to draw up the paperwork.

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{Levi's P.O.V}

I watched Eyebrows walk to his office, this was the first time I'd ever seen him pissed. I glared daggers towards that bitch who's screwed everything up. She looked confused but I really couldn't fucking care less. I turned my glare to everyone else, who quickly dispersed. I went over to Kerai's office, the door was standing open. Kerai was on the couch crying while cadet Jinn was trying to calm her. I carefully walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn't move but her sobbs eased some.

"Kerai?" I said in a soft voice.

"Go away." She mumbled.

"Kerai, I won't-"

"Go away." She barked.

"No, not until I know you are-"

"Just go away you bastard." She jerked upright and slapped my hand away.

The look on her face kind of startled me. Her violet eyes were now red and puffy, they were cold and lifeless. Her brows were knitted together and anger emanated from every part of her. I didn't know what to do, I'd never dealt with someone in this state of being. I wanted to comfort her but the more I tried the angrier she became.

"Captain, with all do respect. I think it's be best if you leave her alone for a while." Cadet Jinn was right.

I knew there was no arguing and nothing I could say. Reluctantly I turned and left her office. As soon as I was out of her office, I heard her cry harder than she had been when I had walked in. I felt a pain in my chest, to think everything we had built up over the years was shattered in the matter of minutes.


End file.
